Katherine watched as Ayden stood over Ethan with his sword in hand and chanted some sort of prayer or spell in a language she didn’t understand.

Ethan’s body violently convulsed, a garbled string of ribald curses spewing from his lips, before he finally stilled and grew quiet. Dark tendrils of fog oozed from the shadows and covered his body. When the haze dissipated Ethan was gone.

“Oh my God! What’s going on, Ayden, where did he go?” her gaze darted around the room, then locked on Ayden. “I … I don’t understand. Ethan tried to kill me and if not for you, he would have. The two of you fought and I saw him fall. His body should be right there.” She pointed at the spot on the floor where Ethan collapsed. “But it disappeared and there is no blood. I must be losing my mind.” Suddenly feeling faint, she swayed on her feet and crumpled to the ground.

Ayden rushed to her side and pulled her into his lap. “It’s over and he’ll never hurt you again.” He rocked her in his arms and lightly brushed his hand up and down her back. “You dinna imagine it, ma gaol.” He tightened his embrace. “The rogue willna be back.”

Katherine gripped his arm and glared up at him. Somehow she had to make him listen. “You don’t know him. Ethan is not the type to just walk away from a challenge and he is hellbent on winning this one. He’ll be back,” she sobbed, the strain finally taking its toll.

“Dinna cry, sweeting.” Ayden hugged her tighter. “He has finally crossed over to the netherworld, and Hell can keep him. He’s dead, and I can promise he’ll never hurt you or anyone else ever again.” Ayden tucked her head beneath his chin and continued to rock her.

“A man can’t just vanish like that, Ayden.”

“He can if he already died somewhere else,” a woman said.

Katherine’s gaze shot toward the door, shocked to see Noreen standing there.

“Are you telling me he wasn’t really here? That I imagined his hands wrapped around my throat, and this?” Katherine touched her split lip, then dragged her finger across her bruised cheek.

“His malevolent earthbound spirit was here, but he died in a place called New York, the night you and he fought,” Noreen said, in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Did … did I kill him? Is that why he came after me here?” Katherine asked, her voice trembling. There was so much about that night she didn’t remember.

“Nay, lass. He was killed by a man named George.”

“George killed him? I don’t believe it,” Katherine shrieked. “George is a good man. He saved me from Ethan.”

“He tried to kill George after you left, and he fought back,” Noreen explained. “You are na responsible, but his restless spirit was trapped on earth seeking revenge for a violent death. Since you were the object of his rage when he died, his spirit sought you out, intent on taking your life.”

“I don’t understand. How can a person die in one country and their spirit end up in another? Katherine asked. “That would be impossible.” She dragged her fingers through her hair. This was all too much to fathom.

“How can a person living in one century travel to another that took place seven hundred years in the past?” Noreen ask. “But you did it.”

“You know about that?” Katherine gasped. She glared up at Noreen. “How do you know? Who are you?”

“One of the ancients. I know all and see all. ” Noreen’s lips flickered like she was about to smile, but instead her face contorted and her features began to change. “Some call me a seer, some call me a witch. Like beauty, it is all in the eye of the beholder.”

“Seonag,” Katherine clutched a hand to her throat when Noreen transformed from a forty-year old woman to the ancient seer before her eyes.

Ayden released his hold on Katherine and sprang to his feet. He picked up his sword and stood between her and Seonag. “Dinna come any closer. I’ve heard tales about your treachery and deception.”

Seonag smiled and raised her hand. “You’ve no need to fash or to protect the lass, Ayden MacAndrews. I mean her no harm. If I did, you’d be powerless to stop me.”

“Then why are you here, Seonag? What do you want with Katherine?” Ayden tightened the grip on his sword and widened his stance.

“I’m here for the same reason you are, Ayden.” Seonag replied. “To set a wrong to right, so things will be as they should be.”

Katherine stood and placed her hand on Ayden’s wrist, prompting him to lower his sword. “It’s fine, Ayden. Seonag and I have met in the past and I dinna think she means me any harm.” While some were threatened and feared the seer, Katherine felt calm and comfortable in her presence.

“You met with her before? When?” Ayden asked, concern lacing his voice.

“She came to me the night of the feast, when you were being held by Lord Grant, and after Lord MacConnery had gone to join in your beating,” Katherine said. “I also met with her in the cave the day I heard you’d died and I ran from Glen Heather, before I was attacked by MacConnery at the falls.” She stepped forward with her arms outstretched. “Why are you here? We set the wrong to right, did we not? We found out that Catriona did not kill herself, so now her soul can rest, and we uncovered the truth about the betrayal at Stirling.”

“Aye, you did these things,” Seonag said. “But there were other things that needed to be fixed. Like Ayden’s death at Stirling.”

“What did you have to do with that?” Ayden asked. “

“When it was uncovered that MacConnery was a traitor, he was na given the information about the Highland reinforcements, so he was na able to betray his countrymen. Men died, as their fates dictated, but na the number who died as a result of the betrayal. Ayden lived to come home to his wife and child.”

“Child?” Ayden spun her around to face Katherine. “You were carried my bairn? Why did you na tell me?”

“Aye, I was with child,” Katherine whispered, and slid her hand over her belly, tears running down her cheek. She had no idea how it worked when she was pregnant in one century, and returned to the future. “I didn’t find out for sure until the day in the cave. Seonag told me. Then I fell from the cliff before we could talk, and was returned to my own time. I wasn’t sure if I was pregnant or if Catriona was pregnant.”

“But you are one in the same.” Ayden tugged her into his arms, and glared at Seonag. “Is Katherine still breeding? Does she carry my babe?”

Seonag mumbled something in Gaelic, then looked at Ayden “Things are as they should be.”

“Why did you come to me as Noreen the first time we met?” Katherine asked.

“Would you have opened the door to me if I had come in this form?”

Katherine lowered her gaze, ashamed of her answer. “I’m not sure. I was new here and hiding from Ethan. I really shouldn’t have opened the door to anyone.”

“Do you still have the bundle of herbs I gave you?”

Katherine nodded. “You told me to keep it with me and I did.” She reached into a small pouch tied to her skirt, and produced the bundle of herbs.

“Tonight is the Summer solstice, midsummer’s eve. At the stroke of midnight, you will have decisions to make. Burn the bundle of herbs and you will find the answers you seek.” She faced Ayden. “Search for the truth and what’s important and what is na. Once you do, all will be as it should be.” That said, she spun in a circle and disappeared.

Ayden looped his arm around Katherine’s waist, and drew her against his chest.

“Is it truly over?” she asked, the air rushing from her lungs in a huge sigh of relief. It was finally over. Ethan could never hurt her again. She was free. Or was she? She glanced up at Ayden. There were still so many unanswered questions, she didn’t know where to begin.

“I know a lot has happened, but you must feel as if a huge weight must be lifted from your shoulders, sweeting,” Ayden said, then enveloped her in his arms. “Knowing that rogue canna hurt you again must be like a breath of fresh air, the start of a new life, one I am hoping includes me,” Ayden said, then wrapped his arms around her.

Katherine stiffened and planted her hands on his chest, pushing him away. She was torn between wanting him to hold her, and keeping her distance until she learned the truth about everything that happened and what was truly in his heart.

“You’re safe.” He drew her into his embrace again. “I give you my word, Catriona.”

Uneasiness crept through her when he said her name in Gaelic. She raised her head and looked him directly in eyes. “If Ethan was already dead when he came here, what about you? Are you real or are you dead, too?” She squeezed at his arms — a modicum of relief washing over her when warm, thick, corded muscles bunched beneath her fingertips. He felt real, but so did Ethan when he was hitting her.

Ayden stared down at her in silence.

“You’re dead, aren’t you?” She tried to wriggle free, but he refused to release her. “Am I dead, too?”

He shook his head. “Nay. Na yet, ma gaol. Na for a very long time.” He lowered his gaze.

“If you’re dead and I am not, then why are you still here? Why did you pick me to haunt?”

“You know why, Catriona.”

Her heart hammering out of control, she glared up at him. This wasn’t real. He wasn’t real. “My name is Katherine MacDonald, not Catriona. She died seven hundred years ago and this is the twenty-first century, not the fourteenth.” She slowly backed out of his embrace and kept moving until her spine rested against the wall and she could go no further.

“I know you are confused, but if you’re willing to listen, I can explain, Catriona.”

“No. Catriona fell to her death. Or did I?” She raked a shaky hand through her hair. “I don’t know what to believe anymore.”

“Will you listen to what I have to say, Catriona? If, after I am finished, you want me to leave, I’ll go and never bother you again.”

His shoulders slumped and the look of sadness on his face broke her heart. She wanted to comfort him, the way he had her. But he believed she was Catriona and that was impossible. She wanted to tell him she understood, but she couldn’t comprehend any of this. After giving it some thought, she decided she really had no choice but to hear him out. He was blocking her means of escape and perhaps she’d finally find out once and for all what was happening to her. “Explain. Please.”